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Alain Prost
"Prost" redirects here. For other uses, see Prost (disambiguation). |birthplace = Lorette, Loire, France |death date = |placeofdeath = |nationality = |status = Retired |firstrace = 1980 Argentine Grand Prix |firstwin = 1981 French Grand Prix |lastrace = 1993 Australian Grand Prix |lastwin = 1993 German Grand Prix }} |death_date = |employer = Prost Grand Prix |occupation = Team Principal |years_active = – }} Alain Marie Pascal Prost (born 24 February 1955 in Lorette, Loire, France) is one of the most successful drivers in the history of Formula One, winning four championships (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993), being runner-up in another four (1983, 1984, 1988 and 1990), and for taking 51 wins in the time of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda's return. He is the only French world champion. After retiring in Formula One in , he returned back to the sport as a test driver for in . Before he returned, he was testing the McLaren MP4/9 and the McLaren MP4/10 in a private test. __TOC__ Career 1980: McLaren 1979, following his dominace in Formula Three, the top teams finally began to take notice. He held talks with team principals Bernie Ecclestone and Teddy Mayer for drives at and respectively. Ever cautious in his negotiations, Prost turned down an offer from Teddy Mayer to race for McLaren in a third car at the 1979 United States Grand Prix West. Prost, not knowing the car or the track was unwilling to race and possibly hamper his credibility. Following his rejection of the drive at the US Grand Prix, Teddy Mayer had switched his attention to American star, Kevin Cogan for the 1980 drive. However team sponsor, Marlboro still preferred Prost for the drive. On 29th November 1979, Mayer staged a shootout at the Le Castellet circuit between the two drivers for the seat. Prost dominated Cogan in his first drive in an F1 car. McLaren's lead driver John Watson commenting on Prost, "You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see how good he was. The difference between him and Cogan was night and day". The car that Prost and Watson would be driving in 1980, the McLaren M29 had been debuted mid-way through 1979. The car whilst capable of scoring in the points, often had significant aero issues and was not of the championship winning material, McLaren had developed in the past. Prost had joined the team amidst the political turmoil that invoked the team during its transition period under the old management of Teddy Mayer to its new ownership under Ron Dennis. '' 1981-1983: Renault 1981 1982 1983 1984-1989: Return to McLaren 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990-1991: Ferrari 1990 1991 1992: Sabbatical 1993: Williams Non-Racing Formula One Career Following his retirement, Prost had begun to reconsider whether he truely wanted to remain outside of the sport in 1994. Ron Dennis was in desperate need of a top driver to replace Senna at McLaren for 1994, and his first point of call was to attempt to placate Prost into reconsidering his retirement. It had been clear that Prost was seriously considering a return to motorsport, when in January 1994 he released a statement noting ''"since rumours have been circulating about my possible return to competition, I have been wondering what people were thinking. Whatever final decision I take, for which no deadline has been fixed, I know it will not be easy." His former boss, Frank Williams was quick to downplay any rumours of Prost's return for 1994, stating "He is not contractually free to race with any other team in 1994. He retired which is his privilege." Prost was cautious to respond, however he remained the favourite for the McLaren drive in 1994. Williams, however noted there had been no attempt from either Prost or McLaren to buy him out of his Williams contract. In the beginning of March 1994, Prost admitted he continued to have a "great passion" ''for Formula One and agreed to participate in a test with McLaren before the beginning of the season. At ''Estoril, Prost completed six laps in the MP4/9, however found he was four seconds off Damon Hill's best time in the Williams. The result of the test provided confirmation for Prost, "I wanted to test myself, to see if I really wanted to start again. The answer is no. I'm not ready to take the risks anymore." After confirming his retirement from racing, Prost was signed by Renault to participate in a consultancy and promotional role for their sporting activities. He had also signed as a commentator for TF1, the French television coverage of Formula One. His first race in a non-racing capacity was at the fateful 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Ahead of the race, his great rival Ayrton Senna recorded a message for his great rival during the warm-up session "a special message to my friend Alain, we all miss you Alain." ''Prost was both very surprised and touched by the message. At the time Senna was killed at ''Tamburello ''corner, Prost was watching the race from the Williams pit garage, standing alonside Frank Williams. 1997-2001: Prost Grand Prix Formula One Statistical Overview F1 Career History ''Scores in brackets are gross scores; only best results where counted: :Between 1981 and 1990, only the best eleven scores where counted Non-Racing Formula One Career Statistics Wins Career Results | | | | | | | |11th|7th| |7th| | |5|16th}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |34|5th}} | | | | |7th| | | | | | |8th| | | |34|4th}} | | | |8th| | | | | | | | |57|2nd}} | | | |7th| | | | | | | | | | | |71.5|2nd}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |73 (76)|1st}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |72 (74)|1st}} | | |9th| | | |7th| | |15th| | | |7th| |46|4th}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |87 (105)|2nd}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |76 (81)|1st}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |71 (73)|2nd}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||34|5th}} |- | | colspan=18| Sabbatical | | | | | | | | | |12th| |12th| | | |99|1st}} Quotes "Prost is not a great qualifier, but he has an incredible record of fastest race laps and actually winning races. He has the most staggering ability to win races." ''- David Hobbs. ESPN. 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix. ''"This is where Prost is so good, he knows how to win races. It seems to me that this is a secret that is just alluding Senna."- ''David Hobbs. ESPN. 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix. ''"World Champion, Alain Prost has already taken the number one Ferrari to victory in Brazil. Prost, after all those years at McLaren has settled easily into the Ferrari team." - Andrew Marriott. Eurosport. 1990 San Marino Grand Prix Build-Up. es:Alain_Prost Category:People Category:Living people Category:Team Owners Category:French Drivers Category:World Championship Winning Drivers Category:1955 births Category:1980 Début Drivers Category:McLaren Drivers Category:Renault Drivers Category:Ferrari Drivers Category:Williams Drivers Category:Prost Grand Prix Category:Alain Prost